Manufacture of carbid of calcium.



No. 65u67. Patented June l5, |900.y

.1. E. HEwES.

MANUFACTURE 0F CARBID 0F CALCIUM.

(Application led Oct, 6, 1899.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT trios.

JAMES E. HEVES, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE PROVI- DENT LIFEAND TRUST COMPANY, TRUSTEE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- sYLvANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 651,167, dated June 5,1990.

Application led October 6, 1899. Serial No. 732,793. (No specimens.)

T @llt/177,077?, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMns E. Hnwns, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture ofCarbid of Calcium and the Like, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of the present invention is to 1o provide for the continuous,economical, expeditious, and satisfactory production of carbid ofcalcium and the like of uniformly-good quality.

To this and other ends the invention comprises the improvementshereinafter described and claimed.

The nature, characteristic features, and scope of the invention will bemore fully understood from the following description,taken zo inconnection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and inwhich- Figure l is a top or plan View of a furnace adapted for use inconnection with the invention. Fig. 2 is a View illustrating the same inlongitudinal central section. Fig. 3 is a detail view, and Fig. 4 is aView drawn to an enlarged scale and showing the carbonholder.

In my invention the electrodes l and 2 are 3o arranged in horizontalposition and disposed parallel with each other. Beneath the electrodesthere is a floor 3, from which extend upward walls 4 and 5. Upon thisfloor and within these walls there is a mass of raw material G, whichmay consist of a mixture of coke and lime. The electrodes are buriedbeneath this mass of material, which is replenished from time to time asrequired and in order to keep the electrodes buried beneath 4o it. Theelectrodes l and 2 are included in a circuit, as 'Z 8 9. To start theprocess of producing the product, the electrodes 1 and 2 areshort-circuited by way of the part 10, which I will designate anarmature and which may comprise a block of carbon or other suitablematerial. Under these circumstances current traverses the path 8 7 l l02 9 and back to 8. The electrodes l and 2 are withdrawn in the directionof their length and away from the part 10, for example, by means of the5o mechanism illustrated at 1l. Thus arcs are formed between the ends ofthe electrodes and the part l0, and the heating and reduction of thematerial commences. As this heating and reduction continues the part l055 is withdrawn, for example, by turning down the hinged wall l2, towhich it is attached, until it occupies the position shown in Fig. 3.The path of the circuit is then from one of the electrodes through thematerial to the 6o other of the electrodes, and the production of theproduct is carried on. To effect the necessary adjustments and controlof the circuit and to properly produce the product, the latter is, ascompleted, withdrawn away from the electrodes, for example, by means ofthe apparatus indicated at 13 in Fig.. 3.

It may be stated that the finished product is withdrawn alone from themass of raw material which remains in position yfor entering 7o the zoneor region of reduction. At the same time the electrodes l and 2 areshifted either equally and together toward or away from the finishedproduct or they are shifted unevenly in the direction of their lengths,as required for the regulation of the furnace.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains that modifications may be made in details without departingfrom the spirit thereof. HenceI do 8o not limit myself to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinabove set forth, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings; but,

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

The process of continuously producing carbid of calcium and the likewhich consists in arranging electrodes in horizontal and paral- 9o lelposition beneath a mass of raw material, completing the circuit throughan armature applied to said electrodes and withdrawing and adjusting theelectrodes in the direction of their lengths and in respect to thearmature to start the formation of the product, removing the armatureand completing the circuit through the fused material, adjusting Intestimony whereof I llave hereunto' the electrodes endwise evenly orunevenly as signed my name.

may be required in respect to the product to control the circuit,allowing` the product to 1 solidify beneath the mass of raw material, lJAMES L' HEX/VES 5 and drawing the product from beneath the mass andaway from the ends of the eleotrodes, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

M. II. lIoUsEMAm W. J. JACKSON.

